Pushing The Senses - Feeder

Rachel Reviews: Feeder - Pushing The Senses

Feeder are:
Grant Nicholas (vocals/guitar)
Taka Hirose (bass guitar/backup vocals)
Mark Richardson (drums since 2002)

Album History:
Swim (1996 mini-album), Polythene (1997), Yesterday Went Too Soon (1999), Echo Park (2001), Comfort In Sound (2002), Picture Of Perfect Youth (2004 B-sides album), Pushing The Senses (2005).


Review:
...10-year career span. However Pushing The Senses, in time, may be the big album for Feeder - going top 2 makes it their biggest chart position to date (Comfort In Sound reached #6 and went 2x platinum). This album is predominantly an indie album, with just a couple of true 'rock-out' moment in all 10 tracks, so indeed, 2005 could be their year, with soft indie rock seeming to be the way forward.

The album's opener is Feeling A Moment, ... more

Rachel Reviews: Feeder - Pushing The Senses

Feeder are:
Grant Nicholas (vocals/guitar)
Taka Hirose (bass guitar/backup vocals)
Mark Richardson (drums since 2002)

Album History:
Swim (1996 mini-album), Polythene (1997), Yesterday Went Too Soon (1999), Echo Park (2001), Comfort In Sound (2002), Picture Of Perfect Youth (2004 B-sides album), Pushing The Senses (2005).

Review:
Feeder saw their joint biggest hit to date in a good time for rock music in January, with Tumble and Fall following in Buck Rogers' footsteps and landing them a 2nd top 5 single. Impressive, but not when you put that into perspective, with just 2 top 5 singles, and 3 top 10s altogether in a 10-year career span. However Pushing The Senses, in time, may be the big album for Feeder - going top 2 makes it their biggest chart position to date (Comfort In Sound reached #6 and went 2x platinum). This album is predominantly an indie album, with just a couple of true 'rock-out' moment in all 10 tracks, so indeed, 2005 could be their year, with soft indie rock seeming to be the way forward.

The album's opener is Feeling A Moment, which kick-starts the album with a soaring rock/indie tune. With its chilled verses, rousing chorus and feeling of positivity that surrounds the song, it is not dissimilar to the vibe of U2's "Beautiful Day", and is a fantastic choice for a second single. It's followed up with what is the best song on the album, Bitter Glass. The song is strangely compelling and interesting, although its outlook is a bleak, depressing one. The melancholia in Grant's voice perfectly captures the emotions of the song, which is obviously about former band mate Jon, with lyrics like "A solitary blossom/Reminders of a friend/What are you saying?/You've got nothing to live for... It's pulling you deeper/And you can't free yourself".

Up next we have first single Tumble and Fall, which features backing vocals from Dougie Payne and Fran Healy from Travis. It is a very poor choice for the first single from a new album, especially when sandwiched between 7 or 8 better potential songs. Its whole demeanour as a song is extremely dull and ploddy, with simple guitar mastering and dull vocals, and no real saving grace apart from a glimmer of possibility at the bridge that is extinguished when it returns to the chorus. Even the 'yeah-yeah-yeahs' inserted to add some diversity are dull and depressing! That aside, it is pleasant to have on in the background, but in no way, shape or form reflects the standard of the album.

Tender appears to be a song that pleads for a second chance in a broken relationship. It starts with a piano-type riff that continues through the song, and the verses goes on to sound very much like a chilled out Oasis song - you can almost hear Liam singing it to perfection. The chorus is another rousing piece, similar to a Snow Patrol affair. Grant's vocals come across as particularly sincere in this track.

Title track Pushing The Senses is slight letdown. It shows promise when it kicks off with a rocky, punk-edged riff, and the song goes on to give more then a passing nod to the Yesterday Went Too Soon era, with some frantic vocals and changes in speed. It is also highly positive, firmly fixed on the future with lyrics talking about moving on. Unfortunately the song is let down by an boring, unmemorable chorus - you can't help but wish they'd come up with a good chorus to match the potential of the song. Frequency is another mid-tempo piano-led song with a steady drumbeat, and a tender, fragile chorus. It is another obvious dedication to Jon, but in a far more positive way - "You've got to know/I think about you every day/You're lying awake on top of silver clouds/Sending love back down".

Morning Life starts with a dark, moody guitar riff like something a band like Interpol could come up with, and while carrying on that moody riff, it descends into a Coldplay-style track. It contains a good chorus to match the song but is unfortunately very forgettable. But just as you think the album is starting to decline rapidly, Pilgrim Soul comes to the rescue, with another nod to Yesterday Went Too Soon. With its moody muttered verses that change into a rock-out affair, it's diverse, exciting, interesting and possibly the rockiest on the album. It has a great guitar riff running through it and a catchy chorus. It also rings with hope, possibly the first song on the album to do this, with lyrics like "Hey, life's for living/So don't you give in, don't you tear it apart".

Track 9, Pain On Pain is yet another piano-led indie ballad and although it carries on the album nicely, it is really nothing special, actually becoming quite tiresome after the first chorus. Definitely the weakest on the album, and one to skip. Album ender Dove Grey Sands is not a bad closer. It has some nice acoustic, and some more, positive lyrics to end the album on a high - "Don't hide away/Burn to grey/Warm the soul".

Overall, the album is a bit of a letdown if you long for a bit of 90's Feeder again like me. However, that is not to say it isn't a good album. As an INDIE album, Feeder have churned out an outstanding piece of work that really does the business among a sea of other similar bands jumping on the indie bandwagon. It also surpasses their last indie-style album Comfort In Sound by miles. Grant's voice suits the slower tracks perfectly, and he comes across as extremely sincere in every single one of the tracks, something that is lacked in other Feeder albums, and this in particular is what makes this album so meaningful - you can really believe every word he's singing, and it adds a raw emotion to the whole album that will guarantee you can identify with at least one song. The one thing that baffles me though, and the one thing they could have changed, is the fact that they can leave Shatter, the amazing B-Side to Tumble and Fall, off the album, but are quite happy to put the dullness of Pain On Pain in there!

Buy it if you like: Last album Comfort In Sound, indie rock bands such as Snow Patrol, Thirteen Senses and Coldplay.

In order of quality:
1. Bitter Glass
2. Feeling A Moment
3. Pilgrim Soul
4. Frequency
5. Tender
6. Pushing The Senses
7. Morning Life
8. Dove Grey Sands
9. Tumble and Fall
10. Pain On Pain

Overall Rating:
9.5/10

 

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